Privacy Policy

Last updated on January 3, 2017

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (“ASPCA,” “we,” “our” or “us”) understands that privacy is important to our online visitors to our website and online services, and to our donors who donate online or offline (“Donors”). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect your non-personally identifiable and personally identifiable information obtained through all ASPCA websites, including, but not limited to, www.aspca.org and www.aspcapro.org (each an “ASPCA Website”), and through online services, as well as how Donors can opt-out of having their personal information shared or sold. By using an ASPCA Website, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Capitalized terms that are not defined in this Privacy Policy have the meaning given them in our Terms of Use.

In order to fully understand your rights, we encourage you to read this entire Privacy Policy as well as our Terms of Use. Since the ASPCA Websites will continue to implement new technologies and improve their services and features, this Privacy Policy is subject to change. We reserve the right at any time to change this Privacy Policy. If there are changes or additions to this Privacy Policy, we will post those changes here or in other formats that we deem acceptable, so that you will always know what information we collect online, how we use it and what choices you have. All changes will be effective immediately upon posting. For your convenience, you may review specific information about our data collection and protection practices by clicking on any of the headings below:

1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND THE REASON FOR THE COLLECTION

The categories of information we collect can include:

Information you provide to us directly: We may collect and maintain certain personal information about you when you send us an e-mail or complete any of our online forms, such as when you request information from us, make a donation, subscribe to one of our online newsletters, request to become a member, sign up for mobile texts, or forward a web page, electronic postcard, or electronic newsletter. Such information may include your name, mailing address, and e-mail address; it may also include a mobile phone number, the e-mail addresses of those to whom you forward ASPCA electronic content, and any other information collected in the forms. You may be asked to provide credit card information to contribute to the ASPCA, purchase certain information or materials from the ASPCA, or subscribe to various ASPCA publications. We do not store your credit card information, but more information on how your financial information may be used or shared, please see “Sharing Your Information” below.

Information we collect from third parties: We may collect information about you from third party services. For example, we may receive information about you when you interact with our site through various social media networks, for example, by logging in through or liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter. The data we receive is dependent upon your privacy settings with the social network. You should always review, and if necessary, adjust your privacy settings on third-party websites and services before linking or connecting them to the ASPCA Websites.

We use this information to operate, maintain, and provide to you the features of the ASPCA Websites. We may use this information to communicate with you, such as to send you email messages, and to follow up with you to offer information about the ASPCA or the ASPCA Websites. We may also send you ASPCA-related emails or messages (e.g., donation summaries, change or updates to features of the ASPCA Websites, technical and security notices). For more information about how we use your information, see “Sharing Your Information” below, and for more information about your communication preferences, see “Your Choices Regarding Your Information” below.

2. HOW WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGY TO COLLECT INFORMATION

General: We and our third party partners may automatically collect certain types of usage information when you visit or use an ASPCA Website. For instance, when you visit an ASPCA Website, we may send one or more cookies—a small text file containing a string of alphanumeric characters—to your computer that uniquely identifies your browser and lets us help you log in faster and enhance your navigation through the site. A cookie may also convey information to us about how you use the ASPCA Websites (e.g., the pages you view, the links you click, how frequently you access the ASPCA Websites, and other actions you take on the ASPCA Websites), and allow us to track your usage of the ASPCA Websites over time. We may collect log file information about your browser or mobile device each time you access an ASPCA Website. Log file information may include anonymous information such as your web request, Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, information about your mobile device, referring / exit pages and URLs, number of clicks and how you interact with links on the ASPCA Websites, domain names, landing pages, pages viewed, and other such information. We may employ clear gifs (also known as web beacons), which are used to anonymously track the online usage patterns of our Users. In addition, we may also use clear gifs in HTML-based emails sent to our users to track which emails are opened and which links are clicked by recipients. This information allows for more accurate reporting and improvement of the ASPCA Websites. We may also collect analytics data, or use third-party analytics tools, to help us measure traffic and usage trends for the ASPCA Websites. These tools collect information sent by your browser or mobile device, including the pages you visit, your use of third party applications, and other information that assists us in analyzing and improving the ASPCA Websites. Although we do our best to honor the privacy preferences of our users, we are not able to respond to Do Not Track signals from your browser at this time, as we believe that there is no consistent industry standard for how to respond to Do Not Track browser settings.

We may use the data collected through cookies, log file, device identifiers, location data and clear gifs information to: (a) remember information so that you will not have to re-enter it during your visit or the next time you visit the site; (b) provide custom, personalized content and information, including advertising; (c) provide and monitor the effectiveness of our ASPCA Websites; (d) monitor aggregate metrics such as total number of visitors, traffic, usage, and demographic patterns on our ASPCA Websites; (e) diagnose or fix technology problems; and (f) otherwise to plan for and enhance our service.

Third Party Tracking and Online Advertising: We may permit third party ad networks, social media companies, and other third party services to collect information about browsing behavior from visitors to our Service through cookies, social plug-ins, or other tracking technology. We may permit third party online advertising networks to collect information about your use of our ASPCA Websites over time so that they may play or display ads that may be relevant to your interests on our ASPCA Websites as well as on other websites or services. Typically, the information is collected through cookies or similar tracking technologies. The only way to completely “opt out” of the collection of any information through cookies or other tracking technology is to actively manage the settings on your browser or mobile device. Please refer to your browser’s or mobile device’s technical information for instructions on how to delete and disable cookies, and other tracking/recording tools. (To learn more about cookies, clear gifs/web beacons and related technologies and how you may opt-out of some of this tracking, you may wish to visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org and/or the Network Advertising Initiative’s online resources, at http://www.networkadvertising.org). Depending on your mobile device, you may not be able to control tracking technologies through settings. If you have any questions about opting out of the collection of cookies and other tracking/recording tools, you can contact us directly at website@aspca.org.

3. SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION

We may share your personal information in the instances described below or as otherwise discussed in this Privacy Policy. For further information on your choices regarding your information, see “Your Choices About Your Information” below.

We may share your personal information, excluding financial information, with other companies whose products, offerings, or services may be of interest to you, including, but not limited to, donor lists of selected organizations (to see how you may opt-out of this sharing, see “Your Choices About Your Information,” below). We may share your personal information, including financial information, with:

You, when you authorize us to do so;

Other companies owned by or under common ownership with ASPCA. These companies will use your personal information in the same way as we can under this Privacy Policy;

Third-party vendors and other service providers that perform services on our behalf, as needed to carry out their work for us and/or as necessary for the operation of the ASPCA Websites, which may include identifying and serving targeted advertisements, billing, payments, payment processing, order fulfillment, or providing analytic services;

Third parties as required by law or subpoena or if we reasonably believe that such action is necessary to (a) comply with the law and the reasonable requests of law enforcement; (b) to enforce our Terms of Use or to protect the security or integrity of the ASPCA Websites; and/or (c) to exercise or protect the rights, property, or personal safety of the ASPCA, our users, or others; and

Other uses as specifically posted or agreed upon.

The ASPCA assumes no responsibility for the data collection and use practices of third parties that process online credit card transactions or for the enforcement of any third parties privacy policies.

We may also aggregate or otherwise strip data of all personally identifying characteristics and may share that aggregated, anonymized data with third parties.

Any information or content that you voluntarily disclose for posting to the ASPCA Websites, such as User Contributions, becomes available to the public, as controlled by any applicable privacy settings. If you remove information or content that you posted to an ASPCA Website, copies may remain viewable in cached and archived pages of the ASPCA Website, or if other users have copied or saved that information.

4. YOUR CHOICES ABOUT YOUR INFORMATION

How to control your communications preferences: We always honor our members’ requests to modify their communication preferences. You may (a) opt-out of receiving communications from us, and/or (b) have your name and contact information removed from mailing lists that we share or sell by sending an email to us at website@aspca.org with your complete name, address and email address. The ASPCA assumes no responsibility for the data collection and use practices of third parties that process online credit card transactions. You may request a record of your information by calling the Development Department at (212) 876-7700 during normal business hours, Monday-Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm or by e-mail at solicitations@aspca.org. If you would like to speak with someone about your communication preferences, including removal from donor lists, please contact us at:

Modifying or deleting your information: If you have any questions about reviewing, modifying or deleting your information, you can contact us directly at website@aspca.org.

5. DONOR PRIVACY

When a Donor makes a donation online or offline, we collect personal information about the Donor and may share such information as discussed in “Sharing of Your Information” above. Donors may opt-out of having their personal information shared and request that we remove their name and contact information from mailing lists we share or sell by contacting us as follows:

When contacting us, please include your complete name, address and email address in any communications you send to us.

6. HOW WE STORE AND PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

Storage and Processing: Your information collected through the ASPCA Websites may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which ASPCA or its subsidiaries, affiliates or service providers maintain facilities. If you are located in the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, please note that we may transfer information, including personal information, to a country and jurisdiction that does not have the same data protection laws as your jurisdiction, and you consent to the transfer of information to the U.S. or any other country in which ASPCA or its affiliates or service providers maintain facilities and the use and disclosure of information about you as described in this Privacy Policy.

Keeping your information safe: The ASPCA cares about the security of your information, and uses commercially reasonable physical, administrative, and technological safeguards to preserve the integrity and security of all information collected through the ASPCA Websites. In particular, the ASPCA Websites have industry standard high encryption security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control and all online order information is transmitted using Secure Socket Layer (“SSL”) technology. SSL encrypts your order information to avoid the decoding of that information by anyone other than the ASPCA. However, no security system is impenetrable and we cannot guarantee the security of our systems 100%. In the event that any information under our control is compromised as a result of a breach of security, the ASPCA will take reasonable steps to investigate the situation and where appropriate, notify those individuals whose information may have been compromised and take other steps, in accordance with any applicable laws and regulations.

7. CHILDREN’S PRIVACY

The ASPCA is committed to safeguarding our users' online privacy and recognizes the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information, particularly that of children. The ASPCA takes all required steps to protect the privacy and safety of children in accordance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"). The ASPCA does not knowingly collect or solicit any information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register as users. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from a child under 13, please contact us at website@aspca.org. You can find out more about online privacy for children from the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/children's-privacy.

8. LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES AND SERVICES

The ASPCA Websites may integrate with or contain links to other third party sites and services. We are not responsible for the practices employed by third party websites or services embedded in, linked to, or linked from the ASPCA Websites and your interactions with any third-party website or service are subject to that third party’s own rules and policies.

9. HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the ASPCA Websites, please contact the ASPCA Legal Department at: